Hasim Rahman Jr has revealed he was warned not to hurt Jake Paul during sparring sessions in 2020 or else he would no be paid as the heavyweight come cruiserweight disclosed the onerous weight conditions in the fight contract that could see him make just $5,000.
Rahman Jr, a sparring partner of Paul in the lead-up to previous bouts, was offered the fight on short notice after Tommy Fury pulled out of the August 7 (AEST) event because he was denied entry into the US.
Speaking to The MMA Hour, the 31-year-old responded to an unflattering sparring video released by Paul which showed him dominating the 12-1 Rahman Jr. The YouTuber-turned-boxer later went on to describe their sparring sessions as a “war”.
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But that couldn’t be further from the truth according to Rahman, who said he was advised by Paul’s coaches to take it easy on the social media performer and that If he accidentally hurt the novice, he wouldn’t get paid.
Since it was during the beginning of the pandemic with virtually every boxing show put on hold in the US, the heavyweight said he went along with it because he needed the money.
“I was just trying to humble him a little bit and tell him, I’m in here handicapped a bit. … I knew he was going to chop it up the way he did – that’s what you see where I was upset in the video, like, ‘No, you being disrespectful now.’ It had nothing to do with the actual boxing, the sparring session. It was just his disrespect for the sport and for what we were doing,” Rahman Jr said.
“I came to give you a look. I didn’t come to beat you up, or to see if you were even on my level, or you were ready for this level. I was actually asked by your coaches not to knock you out. I was told that if you knock him out, you’re most likely not going to get paid. It was $100-a-round—it was easy work sparring for me. It was something I didn’t want to throw away.”
Rahman said the way his team approached him about the fight was “a little shady” with Paul’s camp giving the impression they wanted him to spar before offering the fight, saying he had 45 minutes to respond or else he would never get the chance to fight him again.
“It was a little shady,” Rahman Jr. said. “His coach called me, and he’s asking me how much I weigh, how I’m feeling about my last fight, what I’ve been doing in the gym, how much I’ve been sparring … but he was asking me under the pretence that I would come in and spar Jake as a southpaw for the Anderson Silva [fight].
“I’m thinking they’re about to call me back and get me on a flight to Puerto Rico to help them out for Anderson. An hour later, I get a call saying they want to fight. So all those questions were really trying to line me up to fight me. It was never a sparring situation.”
Rahman Jr admitted the money to fight Paul was more than he’d ever made in professional boxing, but it also came with several clauses which could see him walk away with just a percentage of the purse.
The cruiserweight limit is 90.71kg and Rahman has never weighed less than 95kg as a professional, having gone into his last fight against Kenzie Morrison at 101kg. He must not weigh more than 90.71kg at the weigh in and then 97kg on the morning of the fight.
“I am being fined, after four ounces, every pound over I lose 25 per cent of my purse. They leave a lot of stuff out when you’re dealing with Jake Paul and his antics. For example, if I came in at 202lb (91.63kg) for the weigh in, and then 216lb (97.98kg) for the rehydration weigh-in then I would get the minimum, which I think is $5000.
“That’s because of two pounds they are that scared. They want to put all that pressure on me to make the weight to say ‘you’re losing 25 per cent for every pound you’re over’, so if I come in 204lb (93kg), I get the bare minimum which is capped at $5000. It’s a lot that goes into these fights.”
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